Act 2: Empire's Greed
by Sicarius39
Summary: Having left behind Salem and her followers, Vader is tasked with a new objective: Retrieve the Relics. Obtaining these are of utmost importance to the Emperor as he will achieve true power once he has them. The remainder of Ozpin's forces are fighting against Salem's forces but are not prepared for the armies that march behind the Dark Lord.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: The Cover Image was made by me in Paint 3D. It features a picture of Vader in a screenshot taken from _Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back_ taken from Google Images. I do not own this image. The pictures of Atlas and General James Ironwood in the background belong to the _RWBY_ and are subsequently owned by RoosterTeeth. The images of Boba Fett and the Inferno Squad soldier were also taken from Google Images. The Boba Fett image is a picture of an action figure I believe. The Inferno Squad soldier is featured in the first story trailer of _Star Wars Battlefront 2,_ made by EA. The Star Destroyer in the background is also featured in a _Star Wars_ film from the Original Trilogy, though I do not know which one. I do not own any of these individual images, I simply put them together for the purposes of this story. Furthermore, I do not own the _RWBY_ or _Star Wars_ franchises. They are owned by RoosterTeeth and Disney/Lucasfilms, respectively.** **  
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 **Hello there! It's been a heck of a long time, but I want thank you for your patience. We're back on track with this story and I hope you guys like what you read!**

 **Let's begin.**

* * *

 **Prologue**

Lord Vader stood in the Star Destroyer, gazing at the darkness that stretched on forever in front of him, stars dotting the black sky with white. His breathing filled the room as his arms simply hung at his sides. While he stared, his mind drifted. The Emperor's mission for him on Remnant was far from over. If he was to achieve the power he so craved he would need all the Relics; individually, they would serve no purpose. All would be needed. Soon Remnant would be in a state of war and panic. The obtaining of the Relics would not be easy. It would require the further help of the Inferno Squad and someone else. Someone he sent for not too long ago. He summoned him for assistance before and has served swift results in times that required such.

It has only been two days on Remnant since the Relic was taken. Salem had no way of getting it back, as space travel was not capable in the planet. How primitive. Behind him, he heard doors slide open and footsteps that accompanied it. Without turning to look, Vader knew who it was, just based on the clunking of gear and the sense of business that always floated about when he was present. He wore green Mandalore armour, from head to toe, over a simple but flexible white-grey jumpsuit. On his back was a jetpack reminiscent of his father's, just under it was a half-cape, covering his upper left back. His wrists were adorned by the rust coloured vambraces connected to a flamethrower and a wrist rocket launcher, each on his right and left arms, respectively. His head had a Mandalore helmet on it, also green in colour to match the armour, -his visor however was red that had faded into a dark brown over the years of its use, to couple with the various scratches and dents on the armour. His modified EE-3 blaster rested comfortably in his hands, although he left his hands on the handle and finger over the trigger. Just in case.

"Boba Fett." Darth Vader turned and greeted.

"You sent for me? And said that it was important." He said, getting straight to the point.

"Indeed." Vader confirmed. Boba Fett cocked his head to the side and admired his rifle.

"Well, if this is an urgent request, as you put it," He said, looking back at the Dark Lord. "it will cost you more than my usual rate, I assure you." Vader did not want to discuss the unimportant matter of credits.

"25,000." Vader bluntly stated.

"Hm…" Boba Fett looked back at his rifle. "30."

"Very well. You will take your money." The Dark Lord stated. He placed his hands on his belt. "We will need your tracking abilities. All you need to know is that you are going to be hunting people whom we need alive."

"I will do whatever you pay me for." The bounty hunter assured. Vader remained silent. Boba Fett simply looked at Vader, who did nothing. "You may begin explaining." He said with a slight wave of his hand.

"More will be here soon." Vader informed.

Boba Fett's form froze for a second as he processed the information. "You hired more bounty hunters?" He accused, anger in his voice.

"You are the only one I hired." Vader assured as he looked to the door behind Fett. As even more confusion set in, Boba followed Vader's gaze and the answer to his questions came in the form of the soldiers. They must have been some sort of elite squad because their armour looked different from the rest. Black plating instead of white, coupled with red accents and tubes that adorned the helmets, likely for breathing in the vacuum of space. "The Inferno Squadron will be accompanying you on your mission." Boba Fett scoffed. He turned to face his current employer.

"I work better alone. You know that."

"You need not worry your pay will not be deducted."

"It's not that. I move faster alone and don't need to worry about friendly fire."

"They need your tracking abilities, you need their knowledge and military prowess."

"With all due respect, I'm quite alright without any of that." Boba Fett said.

A female voice entered the conversation. "Lord Vader, if I may?"

"Speak freely." He granted. The woman turned to Boba Fett. Judging by her demeanor and patch on her right shoulder, she was the commander. The 'face' of her helmet was in a slightly angry grimace – as were all stormtroopers –, but she spoke with a stern and professional tone.

"Sir, it is not our intention to get in your way. However, the enemies on-world have proven to be worthy foes by Lord Vader's assessment. You will need more than just a rifle and a jetpack to take them on." Boba Fett smirked. He had _much_ more than that.

"And what do you have to offer then?"

"Special weapons and tactics that only the Inferno Squad are trained in. We have worked alongside one another for years and can execute strategies at the same time, just based on the situations we are faced with." What she said seemed to hold truth. Boba Fett has become quite keen at discovering liars and cheaters.

"Hm…" He looked them over. Judging by their weapons alone, they were a force to be reckoned with. If what she said really was true, this mission would be over faster than he thought. "Fine." Fett adjusted his left vambrace with his right hand, holding his gun in the left by the barrel. "Just don't get in my way." He said as he now looked at Vader, ending the conversation.

Without saying anything else, the commander stepped back with her group and Vader began the briefing and all were thoroughly informed on the dangers and denizens of Remnant.


	2. War for Remnant

**Chapter 1 – War for Remnant**

Two groups were made by Vader for the attack on Remnant. The plan was to clear the academy and make the Maidens open the vaults that sat within them. Boba Fett and the Inferno Squad would track the Maidens and take them by force if necessary. Vader and his 501st legion would be storming the academies and clearing them out from within. From there, they would secure the vault and the Relic. If all went according to plan, this would go smoothly, and the Relics would be in his master's hands soon. However, without much to go on, the Dark Lord would need to inquire in the headmaster of the academy first.

Iden Versio, the commander of Inferno Squad, proposed that they talk to and try to convince the Maiden to help them. She made a compelling argument. The planet was at war and two powerful forces that were far more powerful than humanity was fighting against them. The Maiden had no other choice. Ozpin's forces had diminished, leaving only a handful, so Vader told them they need not worry about them. The real threat were Salem's forces.

Ruby Rose, a silver-eyed warrior and natural enemy of the Grimm, was still under Salem's command. Vader informed that, despite her age and the age of all the other young men and women in Salem's faction, they are not to be underestimated. They were told that Emerald's Semblance can cause visual hallucinations, so they were told not to trust their eyes or even ears when she was around. Another individual they were told to be wary of was Cinder Fall, the Fall Maiden. She was also a thorn in their side as she would be needed to open the vault. Apparently, even Cinder and Salem were having trouble opening it. If they had opened it no doubt Salem would have had it on display as a show of power when Vader first came. But alas, there was nothing. This led Vader to conclude that the Relic was still safe in Beacon Academy. First, however, they would be headed to the kingdom of Atlas, arguably the most successful nation on Remnant.

Over the course of three days, scout droids were sent to the various academies and were expected to find information on the academies. They were successful, and the Empire would now have an advantage on the assault. Strangely, the droid sent to Atlas academy was unresponsive and seemingly disabled. Information from other academies were still adequate in the providing some of Atlas' records. From these remaining academies, maps, blueprints, educational records, military profiles, items and copies of any manner of things were taken and analyzed immediately.

It seemed that the military, educational system, and government operate as a single system in Atlas. Other academies were separate. Due to the nature of Atlas, the military commander also served as the headmaster to the academy. His name was General James Ironwood and, based on his record, he was not to be taken lightly. Mainly, he gives the orders his soldiers to do the fighting, however, when pressed, he is a powerful enemy. In his left hand, he uses a high-caliber revolver and cybernetic enhancements made to his body; his right arm and both legs were replaced due to injuries in battle. Likely the White Fang and Grimm.

Atlas' military utilized droids to fight alongside human and Faunus warriors. The newest models of these droids were called Atlesian Knight-200s. They were likely no different from the battle droids used by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. In which case, they would be powerful in groups, but pitiful alone. Either way, they were going to fall like the rest of those in the Empire's way. All would. One-fourth of the Relics are already in the Empire's hands - Salem's does not even have _one_.

The first course of action was to find the Maiden to open the vault. Of course, Ironwood would be questioned if he did know. If he did not, then Boba Fett's pay will be acquired through labour. The outskirts of the city, any villages, small towns around Atlas would all be scoured to find her. Where and whomever she may be. All forces on the planet except for their own would be met with extreme prejudice.

…

An army of troops stood at attention in the docking bay of the Star Destroyer. The soldiers were given a mass briefing and were in formed of who they were fighting, but only that. The nature of Relics was left to the need to know, that is, only Vader himself. Not Inferno Squad, not Boba Fett. He could not be trusted with the knowledge of such an object. Both he and Inferno Squad would be working together and all they needed to know was that the Empire needs to find these Maidens and secure the academy. The elite squad was used to following orders. Many a time they were given orders to strike down Rebels that plagued planets and restore order to them. They seldom questioned their orders.

Darth Vader entered his bridge and walked to the Admiral. In the docking bay, the rest of the troops marched into their transport ships with the resounding drum beat of the boots that echoed throughout the entire ship coming to a simultaneous halt. Star Destroyer took off. After about fifteen minutes of drifting towards the planet, Admiral Elatar informed Vader, "We will be entering the atmosphere soon, my Lord."

Vader turned his head to face Elatar, "Good." He turned back to the planet. "Remain in the atmosphere. Use your discretion to determine if you should flee. Despite what we already know, it would be unwise to underestimate them now." He ordered. Elatar nodded and swallowed his still present fear of Dark Lord. "Understood, sir." He managed to say. Without saying more, the Sith turned around and walked to the docking bay, his footsteps echoing down the bridge and away from the Admiral.

He reached the hangar and looked to the right of the area where his Advanced TIE Fighter sat. From the perspective of the bridge, the bay was facing the starboard side of the ship and was only just beginning to see the planet, visually getting larger and larger. Vader stepped towards the TIE, just as a few of the Empire's engineers were stepping away from it. "All is in order, Lord Vader." One of the said with a smile, which dissipated when the other one grabbed at his left arm and pulled. It seemed that his friend did not want him greeting Vader so casually. As they walked away, they averted their gazes. The Sith thought nothing of it and kept walking forward. He stopped in front of the ship, he inspected it. Visually, the ship was generally a standard TIE Fighter, save for the curved wings that were more pushed out than that of the normal TIEs. The cockpit was the same. Where it vastly differentiated were the weapons. Vader's starfighter was the equipped with two laser cannons and missiles that split in to smaller explosive devices that helped spread explosions and attack larger radiuses. Normal TIEs were only equipped with the cannons. His fighter was also equipped with Hyperdrive capabilities, where the others were not.

Vader climbed in the ship as the atmosphere of the planet was breached. An alarm was sounded in the Star Destroyer and a voice came on over the loudspeaker, "We have entered the atmosphere. All troops prepare for battle."

Flipping a few switches and hitting some buttons, the TIE Fighter roared to life but was still on the metallic floor of the hangar. Vader pulled up and it began to float upward. Their target was the city of Atlas, Vader would exit the Star Destroyer and attack any anti-air support they may have. On the ground, armies of stormtroopers would be leading the frontal assault, clearing the way for the AT-ATs. The AT-ATs would be marching from a distance and essentially take out the bulk of their enemy's forces once inside the city.

A few minutes passed, and the land below came into view. The landscape was blanketed by white snow that covered all. Greenery such as trees dotted the land, accompanied by various mountains that were in the distance. The city then came into view, first the large wall that guarded its denizens. At every eighty-to-ninety feet, the walls had large two-barrelled cannons atop them. Facing the front were two of them, the rest were along the wall as it took sharp turns to face the other directions. The wall stretched widely across the land, leaving only a simple iron gate that allowed entry. Inside the wall, the city itself was rather large. More spread widely than Mistral and remained on flat ground instead of ascending the side of a mountain. The city looked to have a particular military class to it. The buildings were set up in a way that blatantly stated organization and purpose. All districts were organized in such a way. The industrial district was marked by the plumes of smoke and soot that floated above them – Likely Dust refineries. Other districts were marked by other things such as the lights in the district that was more akin jovial activities. The organization was to be assumed seeing as the leader of the city was a general.

The city drew nearer, and Vader switched off the safety of his weapons. Swarming behind him was a squadron of TIE Fighters. The turrets below turned and looked to be charging up, a faint red glow was behind it. Vader spoke into his communicator and ordered, "Disperse." And with that the Imperial starfighters broke off from formation and became harder targets for the turrets. Vader turned right, and his ship tilted slightly, allowing for a more direct view of the wall. Peering down, he saw people running along the top of the wall and airships in the city began to rise. "Take down the airships. I will handle the turrets." Vader ordered as he pulled on the ship handle and the nose was thrusted upward. He finished the turn and his position was reset again. Now, he faced the turrets and glared with killing intent. His ship thrusted forward, and he shot at the cannons, which resisted most of the shots, only putting burn marks in them. It seemed that the weak points were the rears of them. Vader flew past the turrets, avoiding their fire, and circled around the back. As he turned his ship, he saw the weak point: it was but a bead of red, but within it was a combustible, large red Dust crystal in the back hooked up to the turret from inside. The hatch was closed, only leaving a small window, for the machinery to breathe. Turning to now face it, he shot again, only for his shots to miss and hit around it. Silently cursing, he turned again and, now over the city, rounded about and was facing them again, just barely avoiding the shots. Explosions could be heard from behind him now, in the direction of the airships. It seems the TIEs were successful.

The turrets were now facing him, and he would need to get behind them again. He charged right in between them and had to speed through to avoid the fiery shots. Vader crested upward again, but this time went much farther and allowed the turrets to lose interest in him, instead focusing on the ground troops which had now landed in front of the city wall. More explosions could be heard, this time the losses fell on the Empire's side. His enemy distracted, Vader flew above the city and allowed himself to get deep enough within that he could properly dispose of the turrets. Satisfied with the distance, he plummeted downward in a spiral, towards the buildings. He turned just in time and was now facing the weak points of the turrets. Clicking a button on the left handle, the orange targeting system screen showed two red squares that became diamond shaped and read 'Target Locked' below them. Vader clicked the mirroring button on the right handle and released the rockets. In an orange trail, the rockets collided with the backs of the turrets. As the smoke settled, he saw that the one to the right was destroyed, where the red Dust crystal was, was simply a fiery opening. The one to the left however, persisted and was already facing the Dark Lord's direction, no doubt locked on to him. He still had a distance to go but was moving fast. Despite this, the remaining turret shot, and he had to spin out of the way to the right. Regaining his balance, he cursed and was going to make for another shot when it exploded in a rage of red and orange. The rest of the support had arrived. It was likely a smart rocket that took the turret out.

Impressed, Vader slowed his speed and faced the area where the airships were getting ready to attack. A few were caught off guard and taken out without issue, however, some were on the move already and shooting at the TIE fighters that dotted the blue-white overcast sky. There were four left. A new ship joined the fray, coming from over the wall to the West, that is, left if one were to be entering the front entrance of the city. It was the _Slave I_ , Boba Fett's ship. It shot red blaster bolts at one of the airships currently shooting at a TIE fighter and it exploded in a fiery explosion and fell to the ground below. Now, there were only three ships left.

He pushed past and avoided the airships to take out the turrets on that side of the wall. They were not shooting, likely due to the presence of friendly fighters in the space above them. Vader activated his ships' lock-on mechanism and released two rockets, one for each turret. This time, both were direct hits and the Dust crystals inside became fiery explosions. Boba Fett disengaged and gave chase to one airship that attempted to flee from the battle. Now there was only two ships remaining with fighting spirit. Vader followed suit from Boba Fett and left the fighting for the TIEs.

Vader's ship flew across the city, opposite of the airships' point of origin to take out the turrets on the other side. Reaching them without issue, the turret on the right was simply looking downward, into the surrounding forest outside the walls. The other was looking in his direction, but downward, at the side with the airships, likely not shooting for fear of endangering the citizens below. With one rocket, the one to the right exploded and left the other to look at Vader and fired. The final turret's shot just barely grazed the right wing of his TIE but still did enough damage to be noted. Taking a sharp turn to the left, he did his best to avoid the rest of the shots it was firing. He still ended up taking hits to the bottom of his left wing. Vader curved upward and kept going for a few minutes. He was high enough that he assumed that he was out of firing range of the turret and finally allowed himself to plummet to the planet below. It reverted to its position of firing at the TIEs in dogfights above the city. Vader twisted so he would be outside the wall and just as the faint red glow could be seen, he fired a rocket at it. The impact was successful as the turret was now completely destroyed. Vader activated his communicator. "The turrets on the walls have been taken down, send in the AT-ATs from all directions. No one leaves this city." He said as he reset his position and was now flying over at a steady pace over the city. The stormtroopers were now invading the city ready to fire at a moment's notice, but only found themselves aiming at nothing. The buildings appeared to be locked down; metal shutters clamping down on the concrete on the ground. Then Vader heard a beeping from his ship. The damage he had sustained would be problematic to any further fighting in the air. Vader turned to go behind their own lines to leave his ship there and proceed on foot, joining the infantry.

Setting his ship down, Vader noticed the dead silence. He flipped the same switches as before and the ship's engine fell silent. He touched the ground and his breathe became visible, his black boots contrasted harshly against the white snow. He listened for any change in noise. Nothing. He made his way to the front of the troops, who were currently holding position. Not a single enemy was seen. The stormtroopers parted and he reached the front with ease. He saw a commander pointing his blaster at nothing. It looked as if he was scanning the area, making sure it was safe. "What is the situation, commander?" Vader asked as he looked to where he was pointing. "Lord Vader, the enemy should have attacked us by now."

"Hm, where are they, then?"

"That is my concern exactly."

"Keep a close eye. We move slowly." Vader said as he overtook the commander and led the troops.

The commander threw his hand up in the air and silently commanded the bulk of their forces to follow their black-clad leader. All followed. It was not much of a march, but more of a cautious movement through the city. All the troopers had successfully entered the city wall and looked around, their weapons kept in front. A light snowfall had begun, and the wind picked up. Vader felt the Force warn him. Something was coming. Still, he progressed but kept his lightsaber in hand.

Despite having reached in the city, not one civilian was seen. Not even from the sky, looking down earlier, could Vader see any. Strange.

As they reached about a block into the city, they came to an intersection, splitting four ways. One straight ahead, two to the sides, and the one they had arrived on. Each street had a metal panel in the centre, about twenty-five metres away from where the streets crossed. Vader raised his left hand and held it behind him, all fingers stretched out. The common signal for 'hold.' All the troopers in front pointed their weapons at the metal panel as it shifted and began sliding backwards. Two metallic heads came into view. Just as they did, the commander took a thermal detonator off his belt and tossed it onto the hole they were coming from. In an explosion, both the droid bodies came into view they were blown out of the hole. One of the heads landed at Vader's feet. "Droids." He said as he looked around for others. "This is their military."

Suddenly, more droids appeared on the tops of buildings. It seems they were somehow hidden from aerial view. The droids from the rooves in front of them and pointed sniper rifles down at them and the ones from the streets to the sides were pointing assault rifles. A trap. An extremely large ship rose from behind the mountain and flew over at a relatively slow pace, but fast enough. It was larger than the others that were fought over the city earlier. It was triangular in shape but had a thin structure. The front was tipped and black with windows on the very end to allow people to peer through. As it led down, the black was met with lines of a silvery-white, with vents that allowed exhaust to exit. In the centre was most of the silver, now accompanied by blue and yellow lights. Making up most of the centre were four box-shaped apparatuses that had two on each side of the airship, likely the engines. After that, the ship was split off, for lack of a better word. Six wings adorned the back and allowed for versatile movement. There were three on each side of the ship. As it lowered, a voice came from it. It was a deep voice. If any had to guess, it was likely General Ironwood. "All ground units, open fire on the enemy. The rest of you in the air, follow me. We will take down the large ship." He said, presumably talking about the Star Destroyer.

The rooftop droids began shooting and the stormtroopers scattered, trying to find what cover they could. "Scatter! Scatter!" The commander ordered with urgency. In the fray, he threw himself to the ground in an effort to shield himself. The shooting came to a stop and all the troopers who were scrambling to find cover looked to the front of their group to see all the expended ammunition from the enemy suspended in the air. Vader had blocked the bullets with the Force, holding his left hand in front of him. The commander got back to his feet and ordered. "Shields now!" and two troopers ran to the front, taking the packs on their backs off and pressing a button, allowing for two blue circular shields to be emitted from them. Vader focused and thrusted his hands forward, sending the bullets to the droids. The snipers were taken down and the assault rifle wielding ones were still standing. The ships thrusted forward and were making their way to the Star Destroyer.

On the ground, the stormtroopers engaged the enemies, poking out of the shield and firing. The only ones who did not do this were the heavy troopers who used small but moveable shields that blocked incoming fire. Vader simply glared up at where the sniper droids were. More were in that spot, firing down at the stormtroopers. The same was happening on the sides. Vader looked to the metallic covering where they had emerged from before. The thermal detonator had damaged the mechanism and no more Atlesian Knights were being produced. "We need to seal those holes. They will keep coming through if they are left." Vader said to the commander. The commander nodded quickly and pulled out a MPL-57, a grenade launcher than shoots three grenades in a burst. Poking out, he shot at the one to the right. Vader opened his communicator, "Boba Fett. Bomb the buildings in front of our position." His only response was "On it." And Vader saw the _Slave I_ fly overhead and drop a number of bombs on the buildings, some of which landed on the street, leaving small craters in the whitish-grey concrete. The job was done, as the buildings became fiery heaps of rubble and metal.

Vader opened his communicator again and ordered, "Inferno Squad. Have you reached the planet's surface?" The female voice of Iden Versio came through,

"Not yet, sir. Should we intercept the forces invading the Star Destroyer?"

"No. Our target is still Ironwood. Board his ship apprehend him. Most should be droids, but be aware, his higher ranks have human beings."

"Copy that." She accepted.

"Boba Fett did you read that?"

There was a slight pause. "Yes, I did." He said in a way that said he knew where this was going.

"You are to accompany them."

There was another pause, no doubt for a sigh. "Will do."

"Remember, we need him alive."

"Understood." The bounty hunter said as he disconnected.

The troopers finished off the last of the droids and the firefight came to a halt. "To the academy." Was all Vader said. As the shields dissipated and fires were now raging in the streets.

There was little doubt that there were more of these droid producers throughout the city. No matter. In due time, this city would fall, and the Relic will be in possession of the Empire.


	3. Irritation and Invasion

**Chapter 2 – Irritation and Invasion**

 **Zexs: Thanks for the honest review! Regarding the Empires' technological advantage, I believe that, yes, they have the best equipment, however I don't want to underestimate the soldiers of Atlas either. They are still a respectful military power (just not as good as the Empire). It wouldn't be much of a way of war if there were not casualties on both sides. Regarding the laser equipment that the Empire uses, I like to think that Remnant has many technological and geological advancements in its own right. They have Dust, so we can assume that they may have special ore as well as other crystals. These ores may be able to withstand the blade of a lightsaber, similar to what we see in** _ **Soul Calibur IV.**_ **In that game, we see Vader face off against samurai who is wielding a relatively standard katana. I wanted something like that, but to give more scientific believability to it.**

 **Also, when you refer to Vader's precognition, are you talking about him as a battle strategist, or him using the Force? If you're talking about the Force, I feel like that would take some meditation on his part. I don't want to advance the plot** _ **too**_ **fast by way of him just knowing out of the blue :D Thanks again for the review, it helped a lot! I have not actually read the Vader Down comic, but if I remember correctly, isn't that the one where the rebel army has him surrounded and he takes them all down? Where he says, "All I am surrounded by is fear and dead men."**

 **Guest: Thanks for the review! As of right now, I don't plan on having an Inquisitor show up. It would be cool though!**

 **I apologize for my extremely long absences. Life is tough and things are coming due for me. I hope you all understand.**

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Both the _Corvus_ and the _Slave I_ kept up with the airship housing the General as it slowly drifted towards the Star Destroyer. The bounty hunter observed, "I don't see any way in. This ship is too small to house a docking bay or anything to hold any ships smaller." The Commander of Inferno Squad came over the comms and responded, "Quick scans show that there are maintenance hatches along the top of the front of the ship. The long part."

"Got it." Boba Fett said as he started to move closer. "I'm going to drop in." He informed almost nonchalantly.

"No. We go in together. We have to assume that these people are highly dangerous."

"I am assuming they are highly dangerous." He moved closer. "When do you want to go in? When they invade the Star Destroyer?"

"No. We just need to devise a strategy first."

"We go in and kill them. That simple."

"Boba Fett." She said with sternness. "We are doing a scan to see how many people are on the ship, how many droids they have, what kind of weapons they have. Hold your position. We will attack soon." Boba Fett sighed and lowered his head.

"Very well." Was all he said.

About five minutes passed and the ship was getting closer to the Star Destroyer. Boba Fett was frustrated now, and he was loudly tapping his finger on the side of his cockpit chair. "Done yet?" Was all he asked. "Actually, yes. We found that there are ten droids, seven human crew members and of course General Ironwood. Our droid also cut open the hatch that we intend to use." Iden Versio said with the slightest bit of smugness.

"Didn't ask. Let's go." He said as he repositioned his ship over one of the hatches, keeping the cockpit in a position that, when opened, would drop him right onto where he needed to be.

He dropped down and felt his form being pushed by the high-speed winds of travel. Even though the ship was not moving at the speed of some cruisers he had invaded before, it was still enough that it threw off his balance. Crouching down, he saw the hatch of the ship moving ever so slightly in the winds. The sound of boots on the metal hull of the ship symbolized the Inferno Squad's touching down. All gathered around the hatch and Iden instructed, "I go down first. On the count of three…" She held up her hand with a single finger held up.

Boba Fett was sick of waiting.

Before she began counting, he stepped forward and kicked down, lunging in after the metal hatch. "Bounty hunter!" the commander called in after him, but he was already pointing his weapon at one of the Atlesian Knights currently ready to engage him. In it's hands was an automatic rifle, no doubt with ballistic rounds. Not too uncommon in the criminal underworld of Coruscant, but rare enough to be considered a military exclusive on some worlds. Before it fired, he shot a three-round burst at its head and it fell with a crash. The Inferno Squad jumped down after him and found the mess he had created. Iden Versio grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. "What do you think you're doing? You can't just go against my orders like that. If you're working with us we are going to work as one unit."

"What I was doing was my job. What I got _paid_ to do. If I see a situation that I can take care of by myself, I will do so. And as far as I'm concerned, there is no _we_." He bluntly stated as he jerks his shoulder to get her hand off it.

She audibly expressed her distaste for him through a scoff and they all just joined together at the doorway. Now that things have slowed down a bit, they got a good look at the hallway they were in. The walls had a slight curvature to them and were white as the snow on the ground. The floor was more of a dull grey, just lustrous enough to reflect the lights that illuminated from the horizontal slits in the walls. Overhead there were small circular lights embedded into the ceiling. Of course, some were not working due to the hatch being violently burst open. The doorway up ahead matched the flooring in colour, and the door itself matching the wall. The group huddled up to the sides of the doorway and got ready to speed through. Boba Fett and Gideon Hask on one side and Iden Versio and Del Meeko on the other. "Going to wait for us this time?" Del asked in a half-joking and half-serious way. "Sure." The bounty hunter said, not really confirming anything. "The droid says that there are four of the droids in the next room, two humans. Hask and I will go first, then you and Del, alright?" She expected a snarky reply or no notion that he would follow the order, but to her surprise, Boba Fett said, "We'll cover you."

"Counting on it. One," The commander began counting down, "Two," Everyone's grip tensed up on their rifles. "Three!" Iden and Hask stormed in and Boba Fett sped across the doorway to get a glimpse. He saw droids evenly standing in the centre of the room, currently firing at the door. Behind, them was a short woman, shielding her body with a pillar, dressed in what seemed to be formal military attire. She had light brown hair and currently wielded a four-round burst rifle. Another was behind another pillar, currently unseen due to his lack of firing. The right and left sides of the room were lined with blue screens and grey panels. Bright green and blue buttons adorned each one.

All members of Ironwood's crew shot at Iden and Hask as they ran for cover in the same form as their human enemies and made it behind a few pillars within the room. Due to the heavy fire, Boba Fett and Del could only blind fire. Then Boba Fett had an idea. A concussion missile would at least get the humans to stop firing, but the droids would be another problem. "I'm going to shoot a concussion missile to disorient the people in the back. Can you do something about the droids?" He asked the Commander. "I'll see what my droid can do." She said as the droid on her back removed itself and began floating towards the enemies along the floor.

It rounded the pillar and emitted a blue spark from its appendages. As the electricity arced through the room, it came into contact with the metal enemies but seemingly had no effect. No effect except for a distraction. Two on the left diverted their attention to the droid and lowered the firepower being poured onto the doorway. The droid fled along the ground and was back on Iden's back. "Must be some sort of special droid. Electricity won't work." Boba Fett peeked out of the corner and shot his concussion rocket, stunning the humans in the back. In the front, the droids needed to reload. About time. He took aim and aimed for one's head while the shooting had ceased. In a three-round burst, it received heavy damage, as shown by wires that were where the 'face' should have been but was still standing. Hask yelled into his comms and stated the obvious, "This is taking too bloody long!" He came out of cover and unloaded on the Atlesian Knight. While he dealt little damage to it, it opened up an opportunity for Del to shoot at the head of it, dropping it to the floor. Three left. Iden leans out of cover and shoots the secondary fire of her TL-50 at a centre point of all the droids. The damaged one jerked and fell to the floor. The two remaining ones were joined by the human compatriots. Boba Fett lowered his weapon and launched a whipcord out of his right wrist. It made contact with one of the remaining droids on it's neck and he pulled it to the ground. Now that it was unable to fire, Del shot another blaster bolt at the back of its head, making it lie motionless now. Hask in a state of annoyance fired at the final one only to hit the chest area of the droid. It was still standing. The bounty hunter shot at the final one only to be met with the bullets of the human soldier. They only hit his shoulder, but one managed to get in between his armour and come into contact with the clothing beneath and pierce his body. With a grunt, he falls to the floor and grips his shoulder. He looks up to see the droid taking aim at him. He struggles to reach for his gun and braces for the impact of the bullets to hit him.

He heard the sound of some sort of mechanism activating and then the collision of bullets with something. He opened his eyes to see Iden Versio with her personal shield active standing in front of him. Boba Fett gets up and moves to the left of her shield and fires at the droid. The blaster bolts came into contact and it fell to the floor. Finally, the droids were down. The commander steps forward and orders, "Drop your weapons and you will not be harmed!" Another female voice calls back,

"Why would we believe you?"

"You do as she says, you don't die. Simple as that." Boba Fett said as he steps up beside her aiming at the enemy. In a panicked manner, the man behind the other pillar throws his weapon across the floor and jumps put with his hands raised in the air. "Please don't kill us!" The woman scolded, "You spineless idiot!" He turned to her and pleaded.

"Sergeant please. Just do as they say!"

There was a silence and the woman was observing her circumstances. In a flash of movement, the Sergeant bolts out of cover and runs to the door mirroring the one Boba Fett and the others had entered. As she reached the door, the bounty hunter pulled the trigger, placing three bright orange marks on her back, which faded to black as she fell to the floor. The man began to hyperventilate and plead to his captors. "Please… don't kill me." Boba Fett walked up to him turned him around, and wrapped his left arm around his neck, holding the man hostage. "We're going for a walk."

As they shuffled the door, Boba held his rifle to the crewman's head. "Plea-" He began but was cut off. "Shut up. Don't say a word." They moved to the door and it opened automatically.

Inside was the main deck. Panels lined the sides, the same as the previous room, but there were also more near the centre. In the centre of the room was a lit aqua blue design that created an even cross shape. Evenly distributed on the four panels that this created, were more consoles and screens used for scouting, or checking the ship's exterior for damage. Pointing weapons at them was the remainder of the crew: five human soldiers, four droids and, of course, General James Ironwood himself. The man wore a long white overcoat, covering most of a black dress shirt underneath accompanied by a red tie. Both hands were covered by white gloves, matching the white pants and combat boots. His forehead had a metal plate above the right eyebrow, contrasting with his jet black hair.

"General." Boba Fett said in a mocking tone.

Iden followed him in and ordered, "Lay down your weapons." The general looks to the troops surrounding him and then to the one in Boba's arms. He gives him a nod and looks to the opposing commander. "What do you want?"

"We can converse after you come quietly."

His face grimaced at the very thought of submission. His expression softened as he looked to the hostage. "Are you alright?"

The man turned his head slightly to look at Fett, as if to ask him if he could speak or not. Boba gave no notion of 'yes' or 'no.' "Uh… I'm alright, sir."

"You did good to keep them at bay. You're a good soldier."

"Thank you, sir. But to tell you the truth-" The general held up his hand to stop him from speaking.

He looked back to the enemy forces. "I asked before, I'll ask again: What do you want?"

"And I answered before as well. We can speak when you lower your weapons and come with us."

"Whoever you are, I can tell you're well trained. Your tactics surpass even my soldiers." Boba Fett ignored his praise.

"We've been told to get something called a 'Maiden.'" Ironwood's eyes shot to the bounty hunter and his body visibly stiffened but relaxed just as quickly. "I guess you know something about that. Cutting to the chase now." He pressed the barrel of his gun to the throat of the hostage. "Tell us where it is or come with us. Those are your only choices."

Ironwood said nothing as he simply placed both hands behind his back and nodded to the droids. "Fire at will." As the bullets began to rain down on them, Inferno Squad dashed into cover and hid themselves. Boba Fett was still behind the hostage and receiving no damage. Those things were terribly accurate, but they will not shoot at an ally or civilian. The downfall of any droid: programming. Boba Fett turned his EE-3 away from the hostage and began firing back. One of the five human soldiers was taking too much time aiming at Boba Fett and was hit in the left shoulder and fell to the floor. All others bolted into cover. The droids kept laying down fire on Inferno Squad. "Tossing an Ion Grenade." Del said as he lobbed and cylindrical object with a blue light. It clattered on the ground and exploded releasing a wave of blue energy that wrapped around each of the droids' limbs. They were not able to act, and the firing had stopped temporarily. The human soldiers began to fire in their place. Hask popped up out of cover and fired at one of them, dropping her to the floor with a yelp. Another charged around the right side of the room and approached Iden and Del. The bounty hunter fired but missed as his hostage began to struggle against his grip. He brought the bracer against his throat and choked him for five seconds until he stopped and gasped for air. While he did that the soldier had made it to Iden and Dell. He pulled out a combat dagger and lunged for the commander. She reacted quickly, the weapon just barely grazing her helmet and swung too wide. Iden reached for his arm and quickly took him down by slamming him into the wall. He fell to the ground as the widn was knocked out of him. Hask and Del had just stopped shooting at droids which have now become equivalent to piles of scrap heap. Just then the left side of the room opened up to two doorways. One was on the far side of the room and one directly across from Boba Fett. Looking inside, he knew what it was. A bench on each side, a temporary locker likely filled with supplies complete with a door that sealed as tight as some of the rich keep their bank accounts. "It's an escape pod!" He said as he looked to see the human soldiers had disappeared. "Get on!" Iden ordered as they all bolted out of cover and sprinted to the pod. Her eyes widened as she saw the man who she had just slammed into the wall was on the inside pressing a button on the side.

The doors shut, and they were met with the white wall that was there before. "Incoming collision in T-minus: thirty seconds." An automated voice informed over the speakers. They all looked to the front cockpit and saw the side of the Star Destroyer getting closer. "We need to turn the ship. They're getting away and this thing is headed for the bridge!" Del said as he ran to the controls and began pressing buttons. To his surprise, none of the controls were working. Electricity and sparks emitted from the panel and he looked to the remains of the Ion grenade beneath his feet. "Oh…" He inhaled sharply, and a thought popped into his head as he turned around. "The controls are fried! We need another way to turn it."

"Let's get to our ships-" Iden began but all their comms sprung to life as a voice came through. It was Admiral Elatar.

"Inferno Squad are you clear of the enemy ship?" He asked. Iden turned and walked out of the room, the rest following close behind. Boba's gaze then went to the ground in front of him. A trail of blood created a line to where the escape pod was. They took the injured with them. He cursed as he turned back to the way they came.

"Not yet. We will be out soon." The Commander informed.

"Get clear. Fast. We are going to blast it before it hits the bridge."

"Understood. But, all due respect sir, the power source of this ship seems to be powerful and may damage the ship." She warned as they stopped underneath the hole they had cut earlier.

"Likely, but our shields may be able to take the blast. I would rather that than the direct impact of the ship, wouldn't you, Commander? Get clear."

Boba tugged on the arm of the hostage. "Move." The arm suddenly jolted, and the man fell to the floor. "You can't take me! You want me to give up information about the General. I won't let you take me."

"Forget this." He mumbled as he used the armstock of his blaster to hit him in the head and knock him out. Fett hoisted him over a shoulder and activated his jetpack to fly to his ship. Inferno Squad jumped into the _Corvus_ , which was flying below. Through the cockpits, they saw the hulking figure of the Star Destroyer and turned away to ensure that the blaster fire from it would not impact their ship. The sound of cannon fire, as well as a green blast filled their eyes and ears as the ship was obliterated. A shockwave of teal energy erupted from the Ironwood's ship and they began to slowly descend to the city.

"When we get down on the ground, we'll question this one about the whereabouts of his general and we can pursue from there. Or, I can find the escape pod and pick up the trail of one of the bleeding soldiers."

"Alright, let's get down on the ground first and decide from there. The stormtroopers should have been setting up checkpoints throughout the city."


End file.
